Survey & RTK Workflows

Your CSV should have columns for name, latitude, longitude, and height (ellipsoidal, in meters). Coordinates must be in decimal degrees (WGS84). A header row is optional — SiteCAD auto-detects it.

name,lat,lon,height
CP-01,43.65321048,-79.38301022,178.432
CP-02,43.65318200,-79.38295100,178.551
CP-03,43.65325500,-79.38289800,178.210

1. Open the menu (hamburger icon, top-left) and select Import
2. Click Browse or drag your CSV file into the drop zone
3. SiteCAD auto-detects the CSV format and shows a preview with the detected columns and row count
4. Choose a parent component if you want the CPs nested under a specific component (e.g., “Survey Points Q1”)
5. Click Confirm — one CP entity is created per row with lat/lon/height populated

The entire import is a single undo step. Press Ctrl+Z (or ⌘+Z) to undo all imported points at once.

You can also import by chatting with the AI assistant. It will walk you through file selection and handle the import automatically.

After import, your CPs appear in the scene as cross markers. Verify they’re correct:

• Visual check — CPs should appear at their expected locations on the terrain. Select one and use Fly To to center the camera on it.
• Properties panel — Select a CP to see its lat/lon/height, accuracy, surveyor, and marker type in the properties panel.
• Site anchor — If this is your first survey import and no anchor is set, you may want to set the site anchor point to match your survey’s base station. Go to Menu → Site Settings → Anchor and enter the base station coordinates.

Some RTK controllers and total stations export points in East-North-Up (ENU) coordinates relative to a base station or project origin (anchor point), rather than in lat/lon. SiteCAD can import these too — the key is that your site anchor must be set correspondingly first, since ENU values are only meaningful relative to that origin.

name,east,north,up
CP-01,0.000,0.000,0.000
CP-02,12.450,3.210,0.119
CP-03,-5.320,18.740,-0.222

ENU CSVs aren’t handled by the standard import dialog (which expects lat/lon). Instead, use the AI assistant — it will read the columns, convert each ENU position to geodetic via the site anchor, and create CPs with the correct lat/lon/height.

CSV isn’t the only option. SiteCAD also imports survey points from:

• GeoJSON — Point features become CPs. Properties like name, height, and accuracy are mapped automatically.
• LandXML — <CgPoint> elements in survey data become CPs with full metadata.
• DXF — Point entities are imported as CPs. Coordinates are converted from local ENU to geodetic using the site anchor.

The fastest approach. Select the entities you want to stake out (or don’t select anything to include all), then ask the assistant to generate the CSV.

The assistant will write a script that queries the entity positions, converts them to geodetic (lat/lon/height) or ENU (east/north/up meters) coordinates, and outputs the CSV. You can copy the result or ask it to download as a file.

For a one-off export, use Menu → New Operation and write or paste a script. This example exports the selected entities (or all CPs if nothing is selected):

const selection = getSelection();
const entities = selection.length > 0
  ? await getEntities(selection)
  : await queryEntities("type = 'g'");

const rows = ['Name,Latitude,Longitude,Height'];
for (const entity of entities) {
  const geo = await getWorldGeodetic(entity.id);
  if (geo) {
    rows.push(
      `${entity.name},${geo.lat.toFixed(8)},${geo.lon.toFixed(8)},${geo.height.toFixed(3)}`
    );
  }
}

output(rows.join('\n'), 'Stake-Out CSV');

For ENU output (local meters relative to the site anchor), use getWorldPosition instead:

const selection = getSelection();
const entities = selection.length > 0
  ? await getEntities(selection)
  : await queryEntities("type = 'g'");

const rows = ['Name,East,North,Up'];
for (const entity of entities) {
  const pos = await getWorldPosition(entity.id);
  if (pos) {
    rows.push(
      `${entity.name},${pos.x.toFixed(3)},${pos.y.toFixed(3)},${pos.z.toFixed(3)}`
    );
  }
}

output(rows.join('\n'), 'Stake-Out CSV (ENU)');

Click Run to execute. The CSV appears in the output pane where you can copy it to your clipboard or save it to a file.

For a quick export of existing control points:

1. Select the CPs you want to export (or select none for all)
2. Open Menu → Export
3. Choose CSV as the format
4. The exported CSV includes name, lat, lon, height, and accuracy columns

1. Open Menu → New Operation
2. Give it a name like “Stake-Out CSV”
3. Paste your script (see the example above)
4. Optionally add parameters to make it configurable (e.g., a filter by entity type or tag)
5. Click Save — the operation appears in your operations list

Next time, just open the operation and click Run. You can also assign a hotkey for instant access.

You can ask the AI assistant to create the operation for you:

• Points appear at the wrong location — Check that your coordinates are in decimal degrees, not DMS or UTM. Also verify that lat and lon columns aren’t swapped.
• Height values look wrong — SiteCAD uses ellipsoidal height (HAE), not orthometric height (MSL). The difference (geoid undulation) varies by location but can be 20–50 m. Check your RTK’s export settings.
• Stake-out points are offset — Make sure the site anchor is set correctly. The anchor defines the origin for coordinate transformations. If it’s wrong, all computed geodetic positions will be shifted.
• CSV not detected — Ensure the file has a .csv extension and uses comma, tab, or semicolon delimiters. UTF-8 encoding is recommended.

• Set the site anchor first — Before importing survey data, set the site anchor to your RTK base station or a known benchmark. This ensures all coordinate conversions are accurate.
• Use descriptive CP names — Name your points systematically (e.g., BM-01, FENCE-NW-03) so they’re easy to identify in both SiteCAD and on your RTK controller.
• Record accuracy metadata — If your RTK exports horizontal and vertical accuracy, include them in the CSV. SiteCAD stores these on the CP entity for quality tracking.
• Group survey campaigns — Place CPs from each survey session under a named component (e.g., “Survey 2026-04-10”). This keeps them organized and makes it easy to show/hide campaigns.
• Back up before re-importing — If you’re replacing survey data, export a scenario bundle first as a backup.